1974 450sl

I replaced the belts and accidently sparked a wrench against possibly the alternator before disconnecting the battery. When I buttoned it all up the engine cranks, fuel pump works, provides fuels from the smell, and spark plug is emitting a spark. It ran for about 2 seconds then died. Never stated up again after that.

The battery is fine. The coil seems to be fine with checking the resistance with a multimeter. The fuel pump comes on and pumps gas. I suspect it might be:
1. a blown fuse - the ones under the dash on passenger side looked fine
2. another fuse box for ignition system - not sure when it is located?
3. Engine Control Unit (ECU) module
4. Electronic Ignition System (EIS) module
5. Fuel Relay switch - no idea where this is located?

I value any feedback and help please?!

Check for power at the alternator battery terminal, loss of power there should not matter but check anyway. If there is power, your problem is somewhere else.

Step 1) Ensure that there is spark at the spark plugs. Remove a lead from a spark plug, insert another plug in the lead, lay the plug on a metallic part of the engine, crank the engine. Is a spark visible at the plug?
If not, repeat the exercise with the coil lead removed from the dist. cap, but still in the coil.

Before any attempt to diagnose the fuel system, it is necessary that there be no question about the ignition.

Thanks for your insights gentlemen. Still not sure what's up with the car?

Yes, there is power to the alternator.

Yes, I checked the spark at the plug and it's there.

Suspect it might be a relay. Is there a way to check if it is operating correctly?

It turns out now that I don't have spark at the plug. I determined the ignition coil was the problem using a simple circuit tester. There was no current through the coil so suspect that I must have fried it by accident.

Thanks for all your inputs!

I would say you shorted out the dynamo or alternator and fried the transistors and diodes .

After replacing the coil with a Bosch part, I checked it with a simple circuit tester and there was barely a dim light indicating not getting much current to the coil.

I will have to look at checking the alternator and dynamo (not sure what this is?). Any ideas on how to check the transistors and diodes?

Grateful for your advice!

Not sure if the voltage regulator is the problem and how to check it?

?? ? ?? A car will run without an alternator as long as the battery has enough capacity.

A bad alternator ( the part that recharges the battery ) won't prevent a car from running.

We need a wiring diagram for the ignition system on this car to determine what to test next.

97 SL 320 is correct. A non-charging alternator will not prevent an engine from starting. The term alternator and dynamo are interchangeable. Dynamo is an older term. Both an alternator or a dynamo produce current to re-charge the battery.

I realize that the alternator is not the issue. Thanks.

Here's a wiring schematic for a 450sl I believe:

I have been trying to diagnosis the ignition system using this schematic. The two resistors are good (0.6 and 0.4 ohm). I traced wires to under the drivers side front wheel well leading to a "metal box" (about 3 x 4 inch) that I suspect is the Transistorized Ignition Module or also referred to Transitor Ignition Unit. Any idea how to determine if this is functioning properly?

I have included a few diagrams from Internet surfing.

Thanks for any insights folks!

http://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrVrFdACYBdkCsAqw4PxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0NjZjZzZhBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p =ignition+system+450sl&type=cpds_8304_CHW_US&hspart=iba&hsimp=yhs-1&param1=362560936074645023157&param2=eyJ1YSI6Ik1vemlsbGFcLzUuMCAoV2luZG93cyBOVCAxMC4wOyBXaW42NDsgeDY0KSBBcHBsZVdlYktpdFwvNTM3LjM2I ChLSFRNTCwgbGlrZSBHZWNrbykgQ2hyb21lXC83Ni4wLjM4MDkuMTMyIFNhZmFyaVwvNTM3LjM2IiwiaXAiOiIyNjAwOjE3MDA6N DJjMDozNzEwOjRkMmM6ODRiMDozOGYzOjg0YjUiLCJnZW8iOiJ1cyJ9&param3=eyJ2ZXJ0aWNhbCI6InBkZiIsInlpZCI6ImNwZHMiLCJjdGFnIjoiODMwNF9scDM0X3dpdDE1NjQ5MTExMjkiLCJkb21ha W4iOiJ3d3cubXlzYWZlLXJlc3VsdC5jb20iLCJxdWVyeSI6Imlnbml0aW9uIHN5c3RlbSA0NTBzbCIsImdjbGlkIjoiRUFJYUlRb 2JDaE1JOWJhUG52VG80d0lWQ1E3bkNoMkhvQV9fRUFFWUFTQUFFZ0p0bF9EX0J3RSJ9&param4=eyJjIjo4MCwicSI6dHJ1ZX0%3D&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-iba-1#id=33&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sl113.org%2Fwiki%2Fuploads%2FElectrical%2FJHCrane5.png&action=click